VINE. 



is to produce much fruit without 

 weakening the plant, can only be 

 learned by experience and practice ; 

 much of the success of a vineyard 

 depends on this operation. In the 

 best vineyards no manure is used ex- 

 cept that wliich we mentioned before, 

 of leaves and tendrils ; but some soils 

 require to be recruited, and without 

 manure would produce little or no 

 wine. In this case there is no alter- 

 native, and composts must be formed, 

 as is done in common cultivation, 

 with animal and vegetable substan- 

 ces mixed and decomposed. Horse 

 dung should be avoided, if possible ; 

 cow dung is cooler and more nearly 

 of a vegetable nature ; this should be 

 mixed with as much virgin earth from 

 pastures and meadows as can be pro- 

 cured, and laid in small heaps in the 

 intervals between the rows. It may 

 be left a little while if it has any rank 

 smell, and then forked in round the 

 roots ; the more it is decomposed the 

 better. Many a vineyard has lost its 

 reputation after having been abun- ! 

 dantly manured. The Johannisberg 

 was much reduced in value after hav- 

 ing been dunged, while in the pos- 

 session of General Kellerman, and it 

 has not yet regained all its former 

 reputation. 



" After a certain time, which dif- 

 fers in different situations, the vine 

 becomes less productive from the ex- 

 haustion of the soil, as is the case 

 when the same crops are repeatedly 

 sown in the same ground : this de- 

 pends on the depth of the soil. All 

 perennial plants shoot out their roots 

 farther and farther every year in 

 search of fresh earth, and it is by 

 this means that trees flourish for a 

 long time on the same spot ; but if 

 the roots are prevented from spread- 

 ing, or, the plants being too crowded, 

 their roots interfere, a diminution of 

 vigour is the consequence. 80 it is 

 with the vine. In some situations, 

 where the roots strike in crevices of 

 rocks in which rich earth is accumu- 

 lated, the vines will continue in vigour 

 for many years ; but where their prog- 

 ress is arrested by a solid rock or 

 substratum, they will, in time, show 

 S30 



I signs of exhaustion. In this case the 

 remedy is the same as for land bear- 

 ing corn. A fallow, or rest, as it is 

 usually called, is necessary, together 

 with the addition of such manures as 

 shall restore the lost fertility. For 

 this purpose, a portion of the oldest 

 roots are dug up every year, and the 

 ground trenched or loosened two feet 

 deep or more with the mattock, to 

 expose it to the influence of the at- 

 mosphere. A compost is prepared 

 with sods taken from pastures, or any 

 virgin earth which can be procured ; 

 this is mixed with some lime and 

 turned over several times, to rot all 

 the roots and grass which may be in 

 it, and to make it a uniform and rich 

 mould. Holes are now made, exact- 

 ly as when a new vine is planted, and 

 in each of them a basket or barrow- 

 ful of earth is thrown ; in this the 

 new plants or cuttings are planted to 

 produce new vines in due time : thus 

 the vineyard is gradually renovated. 

 The proportion thus fallowed every 

 year depends on the natural duration 

 of the vine in that particular situa- 

 tion. In inferior soils one seventh is 

 thus renewed every year ; in some a 

 twentieth part is sufficient ; and there 

 are vineyards which have never been 

 renewed in the memory of the pres- 

 ent generation, hut these are few in 

 proportion to the rest." 



" Grape juice contains, 1st, grape 

 sugar; 2d, albumen and gluten; 3d, 

 pectine ; 4th, a gummy matter ; .5th, 

 a colouring matter ; Cih, tannin ; 

 7th, bitartrate of potash ; 8tli, a fra- 

 grant volatile oil, cream of tartar ; 

 9th, water. It is obvious, tlierelore, 

 that grape juice contains within it- 

 self the elements necessary for the 

 production of the vinous fermenta- 

 tion. The relative proportions of 

 these different elements, however, 

 are singularly modified, according to 

 the nature of the vine, the quality of 

 the soil, and especially the heat of 

 the climate. The limits to the cul- 

 ture of the vine in Europe are gen- 

 erally fixed where the mean tempera- 

 ture is from 50° to 52- Fahr. Under 

 a colder climate no drinkable wine is 

 produced. To this meteorological 



